Lack of transparency over redistricting legal costs

The Las Vegas Sun's Anjeanette Damon reports how voters will likely never know how much the state's extended redistricting saga cost the two major political parties.

According to Damon's story, both the Democratic and Republican parties established large trusts and special entities to raise money to pay the legal costs for redistricting across the country. State Democrats drew money from the National Democratic Redistricting Trust Fund to pay lead attorney Marc Elias, a D.C.-based lawyer who argued their case in Carson City, while state Republicans created the Fund for Nevada's Future to pay for their legal team.

Neither party was willing to estimate the total cost for their respective legal teams, according to Damon.

According to FEC rules, since redistricting does not influence a specific federal election, donors for the Democrats' trust remain secret. As Damon points out, while redistricting doesn't influence a specific federal election, it influences state elections for the next decade, which have an impact on the federal government, making the FEC rule seem counterintuative.

While voters may never know the legal costs for both political parties, at least the state's special masters' pay is public information, since the masters' are paid with taxpayer dollars.

Transparency Review (10/24-10/28)

• First District Court Judge James Russell on Thursday approved Nevada's new congressional and state legislative maps drawn by the special masters. Attorneys for the Republicans and Democratic parties didn't voice any objections to the maps during the Thursday hearing in Carson City, but did say they'd "review the changes" to the maps before deciding on an appeal to the state Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has already scheduled a Nov. 15 hearing to hear several arguments pertaining to redistricting.
  
  


• President Obama held a $1,000-a-plate fundraising lunch at the Bellagio during his visit to Las Vegas on Monday, Oct. 24. The President followed up his Las Vegas fundraiser with a $5,000-a-plate dinner fundraiser in Hollywood, Calif.
  
  


• The New York Times published an op-ed piece defending the deficit reduction super committee's closed-door meetings. The Times compared the super committee meetings to other closed-door meetings, such as the 9/11 Commission, and said transparent meetings lead to "political posturing."
  
  


• The Nevada News Bureau reports that a panel of lawmakers reviewed the Legislative Counsel Bureau's public-records-request policy. The current policy requires individuals requesting records to explain why they need the record and why their need is more important than keeping the record confidential. No action was taken at the meeting, but the panel chairman, Assemblyman Ira Hanson, R-Sparks, said the lawmakers would consider further action at the next meeting.

Democrats, GOP file redistricting briefs ahead of Thursday hearing

Attorneys representing Democrats and Republicans responded to the special masters' maps in briefs submitted to the First District Court.

Democrats said they had "no major objections" to the masters' maps but told the Las Vegas Sun they'd have preferred their vetoed redistricting plan passed in the Legislature.

Republican attorneys acknowledged that, while the masters "drew districts that accounted for communities of interest," they still don't want the Voting Rights Act "treated as a ceiling" and feel "more should have been done to satisfy redistricting criteria" regarding the VRA.

Both parties found small discrepancies with state legislative districts. The Democrats discovered the masters used an outdated address when drawing Assemblyman William Horne's district, and Republicans argued that Senator Barbara Cegavske's district was "irregularly shaped" and wasn't "compact" like the other districts.

In addition to the two political parties, the Eureka County Board of Commissioners and former Elko assemblyman John Carpenter filed objections to the maps citing diluted rural representation.

Both parties will present their cases to Judge James Russell Thursday in Carson City. The parties also filed briefs with the Supreme Court, which can be viewed on the Supreme Court's website.

FOIA rule proposal could hide government records

ProPublica reports that a proposed rule change to the Freedom of Information Act could allow federal agencies to tell requesters of certain national security or law enforcement documents that the records don't exist ... even if they do exist.

Essentially, if the rule change is passed, government officials would be legally allowed to lie to the public.

Currently, FOIA rules allow government agencies to use the "Glomar denial" when withholding records, meaning they can tell a requester that they "cannot confirm nor deny the existence of the records."

The rule change was proposed by the Department of Justice and was originally published in March, but comment submission was re-opened last month.

Transparency Review (10/17-10/21)

• Governor Brian Sandoval has indicated Nevada may move its presidential caucus to February 4th. New Hampshire has been pressuring Nevada to move their current January 14th date so they can hold the "first in the nation" primary and have no other primaries or caucuses within 7 days their primary.
• Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez-Masto pledged her support for former Ohio attorney general Rich Cordray's nomination as head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Bureau has been a controversial agency since it was created as part of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill.
• In light of the recent "Occupy Wall Street" protests that have cropped up in Las Vegas and around the country, President Barack Obama still receives more campaign contributions from Wall Street financial firms than GOP presidential candidates. According to the Washington Post, Obama and the Democratic National Committee have raised over $15 million from the financial sector, whereas the GOP candidates have raised just over $10 million combined.
• Keep checking http://transparentnevada.com/ and following us on Twitter, @TransparentNV, for the latest transparency updates.

Former assemblyman Arberry pleads guilty to campaign contributions fraud

Former assemblyman Morse "Moose" Arberry pleaded guilty for failing to report $121,545 in campaign contributions and diverting the money into a personal checking account.

Arberry's guilt plea came after he cut a deal with the state attorney general's office to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of fraudulent appropriation of property. He received a six-month suspended sentence, was fined $1,000, and was forced to repay the $121,545 in restitution. The attorney general's office will distribute the restitution payments to victims of his campaign fraud.

In exchange for his plea deal, Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Diana Sullivan, who heard the case, dropped six felony charges against Arberry.

Arberry, who, ironically, was the former chairmen of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, resigned in August 2010 to become a lobbyist, and was a registered lobbyist in Carson City during the 2011 session, lobbying on behalf of Las Vegas-based transportation company Frias Holding.

Special Masters release redistricting maps

Nevada's three redistricting special masters released their maps to the public late last week.

Citing "no particular minority group was sufficiently and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a single member district," the special masters did not draw a majority-minority congressional district, which the Republicans argued was merited under the Voting Rights Act. Instead, the masters created the following congressional districts:

District 1 (Clark-part): 52 percent registered-Democrats (D), 25 percent registered Republicans (R)

District 2: (Carson City, Washoe, "Northern"): 35 percent D, 42 percent R

District 3: (Clark-part; currently held by Joe Heck): 39 percent D, 37 percent R

District 4: (Clark, Esmeralda, Lincoln, White Pine): 45 percent D, 33 percent R

Judge James Todd Russell still needs to approve their maps, and according to the masters' report, it's likely the state Supreme Court will have a say over the final maps as well. Neither party has indicated it will challenge the maps, but they may wait for the courts' rulings before filing any further litigation. For now, at least, the first drafts of the maps are drawn and the public has an opportunity to see them here.

Transparency Review (10/10-10/14)

• NPRI's Karen Gray investigates the Clark County School District Police and finds that they are exceeding their legal authority by using police powers outside of their statutory jurisdiction.
• After two days of public hearings in Las Vegas and Carson City, the three redistricting special masters have begun drawing new districts. They're supposed to submit their first maps to Judge James Todd Russell by next week, who will then present the maps to the public by October 21.
• Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman has called on his fellow candidates to boycott the Nevada caucus after Nevada moved their caucus date to January 14. Nevada's caucus is now a week before the New Hampshire primary caucus, which has traditionally been the "first in the nation primary," according to New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner.
• Please continue following TransparentNevada @TransparentNV and checking http://transparentnevada.com for the latest transparency updates.

Legislature exempt from open meeting laws

The Las Vegas Sun had an interesting story today focusing on the Legislature excluding itself from Nevada's open meeting laws.

The story notes how NRS 241.010, Nevada's open meeting law, slyly mentions: "'Public body' does not include the Legislature of the State of Nevada."

The Sun tied the story to the current redistricting saga. Unless a compromise is agreed upon, Governor Sandoval has rejected a special session for lawmakers to complete the redistricting process, and while redistricting is the Legislature's constitutional obligation, the Sun notes that because the Legislature is not subject to open meeting laws: "...lawmakers could meet in private, come to an agreement, and then come in for public input and a ceremonial vote."

It's a shame the Legislature has punted its constitutional responsibility to pass redistricting maps. If the Legislature does come back into session, they should follow example of the court and make the process transparent.

Transparency Review (10/3-10/7)

• There were several developments on Nevada's redistricting process this week.
  
  Responding to Secretary of State Ross Miller's request that the high court intervene in the redistricting process, the Nevada Supreme Court questioned whether state lawmakers neglected their constitutional obligation by not completing the redistricting process during session. Additionally, the Court questioned whether the District or Supreme Court have any jurisdiction in drawing the new maps.


• In addition to their response to Miller, the Supreme Court scheduled a November 14 hearing to determine if the judiciary should redistrict the state. Even though Governor Brian Sandoval has indicated he is not planning on calling a special session for redistricting, some lawmakers, such as Assembly Minority Leader Pete Goicoechea, have called for a special session so the Legislature can complete the maps.


• The Nevada GOP moved their primary caucus date to January 14, 2012. The move originally irked New Hampshire Republicans, since the date was within four days of their primary and New Hampshire law states its primary cannot occur within a week of another election.


• Continue checking http://transparentnevada.com/ and following @TransparentNV on Twitter for the latest public employee salary updates.

SOS wants Supreme Court intervention on redistricting

Secretary of State Ross Miller filed a lawsuit with the state Supreme Court, asking them to force district court Judge James Russell to rule on several legal matters before the Special Masters draw congressional and legislative districts.

Miller wants Russell to rule on several issues, including whether Nevada merits a majority Hispanic district under the Voting Rights Act. That issue has been a sticking point throughout the redistricting process and is one of the reasons that the maps went to court in the first place.

However, Russell absolved himself of ruling on the VRA by passing responsibility onto the Special Masters.

As Miller noted in his lawsuit, Russell's ruling seemed a bit contradictory, since he'd ultimately have to approve of the Special Masters' districts and could easily set up an appeal from one of the political parties.

Miller claimed the inevitable court challenge to the districts would delay the 2012 election cycle and wants the Supreme Court to force Russell to rule on the Hispanic district by October 12, the date when the Masters begin drawing the districts following two public hearings on October 10 and 11.

Since this court process is unprecedented in Nevada's redistricting history, it's hard to say whether an immediate ruling by Russell would've eased the Special Masters' task or if it would've resulted in further legal challenges.

The Supercommittee is transparent...for lobbyists

Members of the Joint Deficit Reduction Supercommittee, who snuck out the back door after last week's meeting, may have snuck off to K Street, too.

Politico reports that senior staffers of supercommittee members passed along readouts from the closed-door meeting to lobbyists.

Additionally, senior aides to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, and committee member Senator Jon Kyl, R-AZ, met with high-powered Republican lobbyists to discuss their "prospect for a grand bargain."

Over 100 of the committee members' former staffers are registered lobbyists, according to a Washington Post report, so the committee members don't have to reach far when passing along secrets.

While it's easy to say this is Washington politics as usual, as spokesmen for Speaker of the House John Boehner, R-OH, and Senator Patty Murray, D-WA, effectively did in boilerplate quotes to Politico, it's too bad that such an important committee isn't answering the bipartisan call for public meetings.